Lincoln mayor's remarks at high school’s first Club America ignite controversy
High school students in Lincoln are seeking to disband a new club associated with slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the comments their city’s mayor made at its inaugural meeting.
Mayor Holly Andreatta, who recently launched her campaign for Placer County Supervisor, spoke for about 25 minutes at the inaugural meeting of Club America at Twelve Bridges High School. In her remarks she tied her daughter’s sexual orientation to childhood trauma, said that separation of church and state was a myth and relayed Kirk’s belief that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Marxist and that his civil rights activism was “not helpful.”
Club America is the high school program associated with Turning Point USA, a nonprofit that advocates for conservative politics that has been controversial since its inception.
For some, Kirk and his organization means free speech. But others take issue with his comments about Black people’s ability to work in professional spaces, his belief that the Civil Rights Act was a mistake and his comments about the LGBTQ+ community.
The club’s inaugural meeting during the lunch period Thursday was packed with students — those in attendance reported that an administrator had to deny some students entry to the classroom to comply with fire code.
After the meeting, students opposed to the club began circulating the videos, calling Andreatta’s comments hateful and advocating for the club to be disbanded.
“My oldest daughter had a lot of trauma as a child,” Andreatta says in a video recording of the club’s meeting. “Something really terrible happened to her when she was very young that I would hope would never happen to any other child, and as a result of it, she’s a lesbian. She’s gay.”
Senior Rebecca Warner, who identifies as a lesbian, did not attend the meeting, but was approached by one student leaving the meeting who made a hurtful comment about her sexuality.
“One student told me they learned that God was working on me because I’ve endured trauma, causing me to become gay,” she said. “Taken aback by what I had been told, I listened to the full audio of the meeting and was hurt by what had been said.”
Lincoln mayor’s response
Andreatta was not aware she was being recorded by a student in the club. She says that her words were taken out of context by the students who recorded and shared the video and that other aspects of the video, namely the part about her relationship with her daughter, was meant for the students in attendance who were listening and asking questions.
“I shared that with this group to make a point about loving all people even if you disagree on some things,” she said.
Andreatta, in a phone interview, declined to elaborate on her comments about her daughter and whether or not she believed trauma causes homosexuality . In the video, she goes on to say that she loves her daughter and that they have a good relationship.
“Separation of church and state is a myth,” Andreatta said in response to a student’s question. “It’s not in the constitution.”
She went on to say that the founding fathers’ original intent was to ensure that the government had “no right to set up a religion like England had,” not to preclude religion from influencing politics.
Club America’s future
Now Warner and two friends, who both asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about their safety on campus, are petitioning the school to remove the club. They said that Andreatta’s rhetoric was inflammatory enough to embolden students to say racist or homophobic things.
In response to a Sacramento Bee inquiry about the club, Western Placer Unified School District spokesperson sent a news release describing the district’s policies surrounding student clubs.
School leaders acknowledged the controversy surrounding Club America and said that the district allowing a student club to exist “does not constitute endorsement of the club’s beliefs of viewpoints,” noting their legal obligation to uphold students’ rights under federal law.
“When schools permit non-curriculum student clubs, those clubs must be treated fairly and consistently, regardless of political, philosophical, or ideological perspective,” the statement says.
Warner challenged this in a meeting with administrators.
“If any club can be passed, as long as the board approves of it, and the student council, is any club allowed? So if I were to make an antisemitic club — which would not be okay at all — would it be passed?”
The student group is currently gathering signatures in order to disband the club.
Issues of respect
Reflecting on Thursday’s meeting, which she regarded as positive until the video of her speaking started to circulate, Andreatta said that she was most concerned about threats made against the founders of the Twelve Bridges High chapter of Club America.
“The main idea here is not me. I‘m an adult and I can handle my own reputation,” she said. “My concern is that there are students who were there and ones that don’t go to Twelve Bridges are posting very vile and threatening memes and comments online attacking other students.”
The students group seeking to disband the club acknowledged and disavowed the post, which they said was made by an anonymous account that they were not associated with. They said they reported the account and encouraged others to do so, too.
“I have complete respect for their political ideologies,” Warner said. “I wish that they would have respect for my identity and for my existence.”
This story was originally published December 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
